1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for the measurement of intermodulation products of a receiver system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the advanced fields of satellite telecommunications or radar electromagnetic detection, it is necessary to be able to measure the intermodulation products of at least two transmitted electromagnetic signals of different frequencies, these signals being received by a receiver system for which it is sought to measure the intermodulation performance characteristics at the above-mentioned frequencies.
Since the maximum, tolerable amplitude or energy values of the intermodulation products are generally very low, these values, for intermodulation product harmonics with frequencies within the reception frequency band of the receiver system, should of course not be greater than the sensitivity of the receiver system or, in a complementary aspect of the matter, the sensitivity of the receiver in its reception frequency band cannot be greater than the energy levels of the intermodulation products in the above-mentioned frequency band. The measuring device itself must, of course, imperatively generate intermodulation energy levels which are very low with reference to the maximum, tolerable levels for a given receiver system.
An object of the device, according to the present invention, for measuring the intermodulation products of a system for receiving at least two transmitted electromagnetic signals of different frequencies, is the application of a device that meets the above-mentioned specifications.
Another object of the measuring device, according to the invention, is the application of a device to measure active or passive intermodulation products.
Another object of the device according to the invention is the application of a device having a modular character, this modular character making it possible to envisage an application of the measuring device, according to the invention, to the measurement, solely by modular extension, of products of intermodulation of more than two transmitted electromagnetic signals.
Another object of the present invention is, finally, the application of a system to measure intermodulation products generated by a receiver system either by reflection wherein, moreover, the receiver system may consist simply of a reflecting material, or by transmission (hereinafter referred to as "transfer") wherein the receiver system may consist wholly or partly of a microwave antenna.